MST3K 705 - Escape 2000
The Movie In a dystopian future, residents of the Bronx take up arms against a sinister corporation that seeks to displace them. The Episode Host Segments Prologue: Crow holds his annual auction to help the Really Good Cause, which he is not sure of. His first item? A penny. His second item is a nickel and his third item is a dollar. Segment One: Crow accidentally lights the SOL on fire while trying to burn an ant with a magnifying glass near a pile of oily rags. Luckily, Gypsy takes care of everything. Meanwhile, Dr. F is forced to put his mother Pearl into a home. As in, locked in a little playhouse in the main room of Deep 13. Segment Two: Mike sets up Crow with his biofeedback machine, giving Crow a nice warm feeling. As Crow continues to relax, several small fires start across the ship. Gypsy tells Cambot to activate the sprinkler system but he goes through the hallway. Segment Three: Mike plays the big boss, nearly choking Servo with cigar smoke. Crow doesn't understand all of the slang terms for getting Mike another beer. Segment Four: Servo recovers from his smoking jag as the Mads call. Dr. Forrester has determined the ratings are too low, and so he introduces Timmy Bobby Rusty, who disturbs the crew. Alas, the ratings remain low, so Timmy Bobby Rusty is promptly dropped. Segment Five: Tom lowers himself from a helicopter as Mike reads a letter. In Deep 13, Toblerone's laughter disturbs Dr. F. He comes over to yell at Clayton after the mad scientist complains and rescues Pearl from her home. Stinger: Toblerone spits and laughs. Other Notes *Timmy Bobby Rusty is notably a spoof of "The Cousin Oliver Syndrome", which by definition means when a TV show's ratings are low, then they introduce a younger character in an attempt to boost ratings (this noticeably was coined from the character Cousin Oliver from the last season of "The Brady Bunch"). *This also forecasts what is to come in the Season finale Laserblast (notably with the events of the episode being the result of the "ratings"). *Though a well-riffed episode, it was received as poorly done with the host segments. As fans thought the cast "phoned it in" knowing their last episodes with Comedy Central were done, and the bitterness was taking effect. *This episode was ranked #88 among backers of the Bring Back MST3K Kickstarter in the Top 100 Poll. It is the lowest-rated episode of Season 7 to still rank in the Top 100 (as The Brute Man did not make the list). Guest Stars *''Timmy Bobby Rusty'': Paul Chaplin *''Toblerone: Michael J. Nelson Obscure References *The background music in the opening host segment is the closing theme from ''The Mystery Science Theater Hour. *''"They dress like Randall P. McMurphy to leave the Bronx!"'' The character played by Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. *''"Watch out! Her other jaw is going to shoot out!"'' See Ridley Scott's movie Alien whose eponymous antagonist possessed this then-unique feature. *''"Those squibs were meant for me!"'' A squib is a type of explosive charge used to simulate gunshots in movies. *''"What are the Mercury Seven doing here?"'' Mercury Seven refers to the astronauts who participated in the Mercury missions. *''"They're NOT getting the Tom of Finland posters!"'' Tom of Finland was an artist known for the overt homoeroticism of his work. * "Put that on still store." A callback to the segment in the show in which they read letters from viewers; it had been retired by this point in the show. * "But I'm with ''Parade!" ''Parade is a magazine included in many Sunday newspapers. It does not have a reputation for hard-hitting journalism. *''"Wilford Brimley IS 007."'' 'The elderly man in a jacketed suit, who Mike is introducing, bares a resemblance to diabetes survivor/Liberty Medical spokesperson, Quaker Oat lovin' cult icon and cowboy actor Wilford Brimley. *''"Sir, would you at least take a Watchtower-"'' A reference to The Watchtower, a magazine published by the Jehovah's Witnesses. *''"Lorenzo Lamas is Gino Vannelli"'' Spoken by Mike when Trash walks by in his (now-dead) parents' apartment. Lorenzo Lamas was the main actor in the popular 90's TV series Renegade. Like our main hero, Trash, all he pretty much did was ride around on his Honda motorcycle, wear black leather and jeans, manfully scowl, and shoot some bad guys along the way. Gino Vannelli is a Canadian pop music singer recognizable for his manly curly Italian hair. The resemblance between Trash and Gino is astounding. Or modest, if non-hair features are any consideration. * "Realistic makes one of these that says 'Explode' and 'Don't Explode'." Realistic is a name that Radio Shack formerly used for their store-brand consumer electronics. *''"Daaah, I gotta call Schneider!"'' Schneider was the building supervisor on One Day at a Time, a sitcom from the late 1970s and early '80s. *''"They tossed him onto the streets of Rio Bravo!"'' Rio Bravo was a 1959 Western movie starring John Wayne. *''"She's got a Bobbi Flekman voice!"'' Bobbi Flekman was a record company flack played by Fran Drescher in This Is Spinal Tap. *''"Steve Dallas, Terrorist."'' Steve Dallas is a character from the comic strip Bloom County. *''"The Very Large Corporation of America."'' ''The name of the company attacked by the ''pirates in the short preceding Monty Python's Meaning Of Life. (Terry Gilliam at his finest, by the way.) *''"Sonia Braga looks on."'' Sonia Braga is a Brazilian actress who appeared with MST alumnus Raul Julia, (among others) in Kiss of the Spider Woman. *''"Hey! Rockwell wants his suit back!"'' Rockwell was an R&B singer who is best known for his hit single 'Somebody's Watching Me!'. *''"They re-showed the Theismann injury..."'' Joe Theismann was the quarterback for the Washington Redskins until he suffered a graphic career-ending compound fracture during a 1985 game. *''"She's so pop-u-lar!"'' Crow is singing one of the many interpretations of the chorus to the Peter Gabriel song "Games Without Frontiers". *''"How can you have any meat if you don't eat your pudding!"'' Mike is quoting (actually misquoting) a line from the Pink Floyd song "Another Brick in the Wall", which the soundtrack vaguely resembles. *''"Comin' in low out of the rising sun. Scares the hell out of the executives!"'' A parody of a line from Apocalypse Now. *''"Uh, guys, I sweated all over the GORP!"'' GORP is another name for trail mix. It is alternately given as an anagram for Good Old Raisins & Peanuts, Granola, Oats, Raisins, & Peanuts, or Grapes, Oranges, Raisins & Peanuts or Gobs Of Raw Protein. *''"SEGA!"'' A reference to 1990s Sega video game commercials, which ended with a frenzied scream of "SEGA!!!" *''"Shoot 'em all. We'll make more!"'' A parody of the slogan ("Crunch all you want. We'll make more.") from a series of Doritos commercials featuring Jay Leno. *''"Motion in the ocean/His air hose broke! Lots of bubbles/Lots of trouble!"'' Quoted from the B-52's song "Rock Lobster". *''"Go ahead and hate your neighbor/Go ahead and cheat a friend..."'' Mike is quoting "One Tin Soldier", the theme song from Billy Jack. *''"Someday, love will find you..."'' Servo's song over the end credits suddenly turns into "Separate Ways" by Journey. Memorable Quotes :'''Moon Gray: This isn't a press conference, it's a farce! An unadulterated, dirty, filthy farce! Do you hear me? And the GC Corporation sucks! :Mike (as another reporter): Is that true? Do you suck? Video releases *Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in November 2016 as part of Volume XXXVII, a 4-disc set along with The Human Duplicators, The Horror of Party Beach, and Invasion of the Neptune Men. **The DVD includes an introduction by Mary Jo Pehl, the Ballyhoo Motion Pictures feature Leave the Bronx: Making Escape 2000, and a theatrical trailer. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 7 Category:James Bond spoofs Category:Episodes directed by Jim Mallon Category:Movies edited for violent content